Sunday

Sunday ...
The last day of the hunting season with the rifle ~ I sure hope I don't need the extended muzzle loader season to harvest a deer. Although, I've never shot a muzzle loader before ~ Sam and Slim said I'd be able to do it.
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Bang ... Bang ... 2 shots to the south of me. They didn't sound that far off; but I think they were further than Mom's stand. It's hard to tell when you're inside the deer blind and in the middle of a thick woods. I'll get the report when I'm done hunting this evening; she calls to update me.
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Remember on a prior post about a cabin that we heard had burnt down? Well - this morning I went to pick up eggs from this woman that I have a standing order with ~ and I pull in the driveway to find out that her house is gone ~ here it wasn't the cabin that we thought it was, but her place. There was nothing left but a hole in ground where the basement was and some charred timbers from the rafters or floor joists.

I feel so bad for them ~ losing their home like that. What's also sad is that even though I got eggs from them for the last 3 weeks, I still didn't know their last names ~ just that they were Pat and George and he came up here to northern Wisconsin from Indiana, she from Chicago, they met on the internet and together decided to come live up north to live "green" and to "live off the land" last April. They didn't even have electricity at their house or running water.

The barn where they kept their chickens and rabbits wasn't burnt and is still standing; but no one was around today when I pulled in and I didn't go into the barn to investigate. I'm sure someone is taking care of them by all the signs of traffic in and out of their drive.

I'm sorry to say this; but you know when you first meet someone and you get a feeling about them on first impressions ... my first impression of them was that they were not going to be able to make it up here in northern Wisconsin living the way that they were. They were very naive about their living conditions. They had a little stack of wood outside their house. I had asked Pat if that was the wood they planned on using this winter to heat their house. She said yes and I had commented to her that they needed a LOT more than that when it got 40 below and the cold winds started to blow. Also, they needed to put up hard wood, that would make good coals and throw heat; not the pulpy wood like poplar that they had in their pile. I was just offering a suggestion that I knew was helpful. The amount of wood they had cut was about the amount that I use on a good night sitting around the bonfire.

She said something on the line about being tough and ready for anything mother nature threw at her. My thought to myself ~ good luck with that ~ you haven't lived through a bad winter yet with no electricity, no running water and enough wood for a season. You're in for trouble. Let me know in the spring how you feel about living here like that ... our winters can be long and harsh.

I really don't begrudge them for trying ~ but seriously, if you haven't been raised that way it's not as easy as you may think. Shoot ~ just look at me and my deer hunting experience. If we were solely relying on my hunting to put food on the table ~ we'd starve. BUT ~ if you were to put our family up against a family that has never been around supporting themselves solely off the land ~ we'd be able to not only survive; but probably survive quite comfortably. But; then again... this is how we were raised.

I always get a kick out of watching the reality show Survivor. I imagine my bunch out there for 30 plus days. We'd build a house, dig a well, have a privy, a pantry probably filled with dried fruits, berries, fish, whatever critters available and widdled out some homemade instruments for entertainment! AND that would probably just be the first week!! Give us a few more days and we'd have wind power & solar power working in our favor. lol I know we'd survive. I keep telling my kids to sign up for it; but they won't. bummer ... ahhh... if only I had better health.
~~~
Boy, did I ever get side tracked.
~~~
The day is over ...
It looks like tomorrow I learn how to shoot the muzzle loader.

I talked with Mom before posting ~ and she didn't shoot her buck this year either. She's done hunting. At least she got to watch some does and fawns by her stand. All I had this year was my little red squirrel on a daily basis.

We'll see what tomorrow brings ~ if I let the guys talk me into the muzzle loader season.

Saturday

It's day 8 of the 9 day gun deer season. I have today and tomorrow left to harvest a deer. Seeing as how I took 2 days off, I figured it was due time to get my butt out to my deer blind to wait it out for a chance at a buck.
It's a nice sunny day for a change. The temperature is in the 20's. Today I'm not messing with a wood fire ~ but I do have a propane heater with me. I have it set on the lowest setting and it seems to be throwing out plenty of heat.
The wind is blowing in my face through the opened window. This is good. That means if a deer does wander into my shooting lane my scent isn't moving towards him, rather the opposite direction.
~
I'm not sure if you read my prior post ~ my family all zonked out from eating ~ but Dear Hubby made the comment to me that he didn't like having a picture of him in bed on my blog ... lol ... What??? Like some hot little cyberspace chicky-poo is gonna stalk him now 'cuz he's just so gosh darn irresistible??

I told him to play fair he could take my picture of me sleeping with my CPAP machine on and see if some hot cyberspace dude wants to stalk me? You just never know who's out there in cyberspace!
~~~
We had a fun time yesterday afternoon/evening. Ashley (Sam's girlfriend) had her mom, her mom's boyfriend and her sister over. We played dice, played some cards and played the game Guesstures. The Guesstures game was hilarious ~ especially when Dear Hubby was trying to make his team mates guess that he was a ballerina. Oops... there I go tattling on Slim again. I just wish I would of had the camera. Although, myself trying to convey the word jockey wasn't much better. That's a fun party game!
~~~

Oh great ~ I asked Slim before I came out to the blind, "Is there enough propane in that little cylinder to get me through the day?" Looks like he gave me the wrong answer! My shack is cooling down fast and I have a good hour of daylight left to hunt. I'm doing what I don't want to do - I'm making a fire in the woodstove. I just can't tough it out anymore in cold weather. you would think with my ratio of body fat that wouldn't be a problem. ha!

~~
Quitting time ...
No deer today ...
...just my sentry squirrel ~ and he was too busy carrying off corn to chatter at me today.

Tomorrow is the last day ... wish me luck! Despite my complaining about the heat or lack of ... it was still a nice day to be out there in the woods. I just had to stand in the shower a little longer when I came in to warm up ~ then ended up putting on some long johns under my nightgown and a pair of socks for another hour before I could get rid of the chills. My wood fire skills suck.

Wednesday

Well... what can I say about my hunting today ~ besides the fact that the deer have a really REALLY good chance of getting through the season with me around.

I didn't even go out again today. I've become quite the pitiful hunter.

My excuses: because it's was just too far of a walk to get there ...
It was snowing like crazy ...
My 4 wheeler is froze up ... the back wheels won't turn ... something is screwed up with the choke ...
The 4 wheeler is out of gas ...
I would have to carry out more junk mail to start my fire ~ hopefully non fire retardant ...
and Sam had my gun ... hunting with another group ... and I didn't feel like using his gun that I'm not comfortable with.

So... I stayed home and made pies, 2 pumpkin, an apple and a grasshopper pie ( no it's not really made of grasshoppers ~ it's made with creme de menthe liquor ~ like the grasshopper after dinner drink ). Although, when my kids were little and my Grandloves were little I used to tell them this big elaborate story about going out in the woods and digging grasshoppers out of a stump from their hibernation and grinding them up in the blender to make a pie.

I also got a squash baked up and seasoned up to taste just like sweet potatoes and in a casserole dish to heat up tomorrow. I also made up a scrumptious cranberry sauce (the cranberries are straight from the cranberry bog ~ can't get much fresher than that) and a creamy orange jello mold. In the morning I'll be making some dinner rolls for tomorrow nights meal and doing the turkey and all the trimmings. Hopefully, I'll be able to get out in the woods between noon and five. Slim is working the night shift tonight at the paper mill; but will be off tomorrow ~ so he can sleep in the morning until noon then watch the turkey for me.

The ambulance and fire department went flying by the house this afternoon. I guess a hunting cabin just down the road from us on County Road F burnt to the ground. No one was hurt. Of course, every time my Mom hears an ambulance she thinks it's me ... and always calls; but this time I beat her to the phone and called her ~ and asked if she was okay... which I already knew she was because the ambulance had already gone past my house. She just said she was heading for the phone when it started to ring. She's so predictable. lol But she already knew it wasn't me ~ because my brother, who is on the fire department just happened to be at her place when the fire call came in. We look out for each other :)

Tuesday

Yeppers ... I'm still at it ... trying to join the rank of thousands in the state and harvest a deer. So far ... my luck has not been with me. Nor has it been there for Mom or my brothers although my nephew Billy got a 7 pointer today.

How my day went:

It was around 1:00 this afternoon before I even thought of getting my butt out into the woods. It's cold out ~ in the 20's and even though I have my little shack to sit in ~ I still have to get a fire going in it and get it warmed up in there to be comfortable. Today was not a good fire starting day for me. I swear ... half the magazines now days are made of fire retardant materials. After scrounging around in my pile of junk mail that I took out there for fire starting purposes it dawns on me ... I have only two matches left on the shelf ~ so I better do this right. I crumple up some paper ... add a few dry twigs and strike the match. DANG!!! My match goes out before I even set it to the paper. Great ... now I have one match.

Okay... here goes nothing. I light the second match, making sure I'm closer to the paper this time before I strike the match. The sulphur on the match gives a quick little spark and goes out. Are you kidding me!! Now here I am without a fire and without any more matches. Then I notice the match that just fizzled on me has a minute, tiny little bit of sulphur that hasn't ignited .... good enough for one more try. Fingers crossed ~ I strike ... and it ignites!! I quickly hold the flame under the paper ... and the paper just curls and gets black but doesn't go up in flames. Stupid fire retardant paper ... I hate junk mail !! I drop the match because it's getting too close to my fingers but it's still burning. I notice on the floor a piece of birch bark about the size of a dime. I pick that up and hold it to the remaining match flame. Time is of the essence! It ignites the birch bark ... which is just enough to ignite the little twigs I have over the paper ... the bark and the twigs are burning before the stupid fire retardant paper ~ unbelievable... finally... the paper catches hold and my fire takes off. All in all .... it took me about half an hour messing around to get this fire going. AND why I ask myself am I doing this ??? Oh I remember ~ because I like swearing at junk mail and burning it up!!!
~~
The sun is shining ... maybe my disposition will improve. It's been so dreary and gray outside, kinda like my hair. I just got a bunch of it cut off and all my summer blonde is gone and it's looking quite drab. I feel like a gray barbie ~

Not that I ever looked like a blonde barbie ... lol

~~~
The twilight hour is approaching. That last hour before the sun goes down ~ the shadows in the woods are becoming more prominent ... and rather eerie looking.

An owl just flew in and landed briefly on the stump that the sentry red squirrel uses to chatter to himself. He's only there for a few seconds and silently flies off as quietly as he flew in. They're amazing ... how quiet they are ... all you hear is little swoosh of it's wing and it's gone. In fact, it really was there so briefly I'm not even 100% sure it was an owl; possibly it was a hawk because it's head seemed too small for an owl. Hopefully, it was in the right place just long enough that the trail camera got it's picture. I'll find out tomorrow when Sam switches out the SD cards for me. I'd do it tonight when I'm done hunting; but like bringing a watch ... I also forgot to bring along another card. I am soooooooo forgetful!!

Monday

Sunday

As yesteryear and yesterday ~ I'm taking a break from being the domestic diva and going deer hunting. In the evenings when I get home I'm blogging about my day.

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10:00 a.m. I left the house for my deer stand. I'm getting out here a little bit later today - as planned. I was still up early. 4:30 a.m. I got up with Dear Hubby - packed his lunch box for work and took my water pills. I went back to bed ~ but the water pills kicked in around 5:30 ~ so my day begins... got up to pee - laid back down - got up to pee - laid back down. Did that a few times then fell back asleep until 8:30! That's really a late start in the day for me. I didn't even watch the morning news. Did any world conflicts get solved today that I should know about?
~~
The red squirrel is back this morning and a crow just flew over calling out to all the critters in hearing range. I imagine he's saying, "Beware! The crazy lady is sitting in her deer blind!" p.s. I wrote that just for you Jack ~ I know how you love it when people make up imaginary words for animals! haha
~~
The Packer vs Viking game is on at noon today. Wouldn't it be nice if my deer would come in real soon and I can be done hunting by time the noon whistle blows at the mill ... be back home sitting in my comfy chair watching the game kickoff.
~~
My fire building skills have improved greatly over the last year. Remember last year - my fire retardant magazine I tried to burn? I almost considered not making a fire today. It's warmed up a lot since yesterday. Today it's 26 degrees; but it's sleeting outside. It's still a very gray day ~ no sunshine again. Also... no watch so time seems to be dragging.

I brought my camera along with me today. I don't plan on using it unless an unbelievable event happens to me - like it did last year. My camera makes too much noise when I turn it on and off.

Last year I was thinking so much of my Dad - who passed away 3 years ago in October. He loved hunting and being in the woods.

I was sitting in my stand and was talking with Dad (which I do all the time), and I asked him for a sign that he was there with me. A few minutes later and owl flew in and perched itself on my open window! Then it flew into a tree right next to my stand and I was able to get pictures of it.

This is the picture I got last year. My spirit owl !!

The window the owl landed on.

AWESOME or more like AWESTRUCK doesn't even begin to express what I was feeling!!

Then to top things off ~ on my final day last year of hunting I sent up a little prayer asking Dad to spread his angel wings and make a drive for me through the thick swamp and chase me out a deer.... AND - out steps the eight pointer I harvested.

Some may call it luck ~ but I felt like it was Divine Intervention. It's two memories I certainly cherish! Mom too ~ she says she feels such a closeness to Dad when she's out in the woods. I guess that's why she still hunts ~ and she's in her 80's. So Daddy ~ if it's meant to be today ... spread those angel wings and give us a fly by. We miss you!
~~
The squirrel is chattering again. Of course, I'm scanning the woods with my eagle eyes to see what's ruffled his feathers or fur. I see nothing. I think he just likes the sound of his own voice and talks to himself.
~~
Time for lunch.
Today's menu consist of a diet Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash soda, a Yoplait Light 100 calorie Key Lime Pie flavored yogurt and for dessert a couple pieces broken off of a Hershey Special Dark chocolate bar. I also have som sugar free Caramel Coffee Werther's Originals hard candies with me. Not a platter of salt like I had yesterday. Boy- did I ever pay for that last night. My legs were so swollen and hurt like the dickens. PLUS -- yogurt is so much quieter to eat than Frito's. I wonder how many hunters pack a spoon and yogurt in their hunting arsenal? lol
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It's a quiet day ...
I'm getting cramps in my legs again from sitting ... there's not a lot of room in here. I practically sit on top of the wood stove.

Also, I'm getting a dry cough and a runny nose ... that's not good. It's possibly a side effect from the flu shot I got 2 days ago. After the nurse gave me my shot she hands me the sheet telling about it and it's side effects. Two of the side effects were a dry cough and runny nose. Great... why didn't she tell me that before I got the shot. Geeze ... if I would have known that could of happened I might have waited a week until after hunting season to get it. Oh well ... too late now to look back at the should of would of could of's of it all.

My sentry squirrel is chattering again. What does he see that I don't? Oh now I see it ... a little mouse is running down the trail. Maybe that's what triggered him off. At least the mouse isn't in the shack playing hide and seek with me today. I wonder where Mr. Weasel is today and THE DEER!

~~
Now it's raining ... and I have to pee ... can this day get any longer??? and this was a short half day ...

I have about an hour yet to wait things out. Does it sound like I'm complaining :( Happy thoughts :) Happy thoughts :)

The last hour before dark sets in is what my Dad always referred to as the golden hour or twilight time. He always said that's when most of his deer were always taken. It's also the time when he always told me to sit the quietest and wait. Well Daddy - I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone (maybe because my pee is now floating in my eyes and my vision is blurred ... my bladder is going to burst) any time now would be a good time to chase Mr. Deer out of the woods for me. I think I'm going to get rid of the wood stove and put in a porta potty! What the heck ... are my water pills on a time release?? I refuse to leave this shack during the twilight hour.

~~
Sadly, no deer today. BUT ... even though I complained ... it was still a good day. I really do enjoy my time in the woods. Like the Good Book says, This is the day the Lord has made ~ let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Saturday

Today is the opener of the Wisconsin 9 day gun deer season. As I did last year ~ I decided to take my pen and paper along to jot down notes to journal my hunt. Then in the evening I would post on my blog about it.

~~~

Once again, I forgot my watch. Actually, I don't own a working watch and I needed to borrow one; but forgot to do so. I think I need to put a bug in Santa's ear and tell him a nice pocket watch for Christmas would really be appreciated. I never was one for wearing wrist watches.

~~~

American Red Squirrel - image from the internet

I just saw my first sign of wildlife. A little red squirrel. I also saw a weasel run across the trail ~ he's already sporting his all white winter coat except for the black tip on his tail. In the summer months the weasel is all brown or brown with a cream colored belly.

weasel with winter coat of white

images from the internet

weasel with summer coat of brown

~~~
I was up early this morning. It was 5:00 a.m.
Slim was already up and dressed when he came back in the bedroom and gave me a good morning shake on the shoulder, asking if I was going to hunt or sleep the day away. He told me, "better put your long johns on, it's nippy out there." "Well how nippy is nippy?" I asked. "Sixteen degrees."

By 5:30 I was ready. I ate a bowl of cereal ~ had my coffee thermos filled, made sandwiches for the guys and myself. Ashley gave me a ride out to my stand on the four wheeler. It was pitch black out; but I wanted to get here early to make a fire in the wood stove and get settled in before daylight.

We still have the trail camera out by this stand. The camera flashed once; but it's too dark out to tell what's there. I have to wait until daylight.
~~
It's daylight and starting to snow very lightly. There's a gray squirrel and a blue jay out there working the corn pile. The red squirrel is starting up a chatter. I hope its at a deer coming in. It sure would make a happy me to harvest a deer on opening morning; but I haven't seen any sign of one yet. Unless there was one coming in early this morning in the dark when the camera flashed ... but I'm not seeing anything now that it's light out and shooting hours are open. Time will tell later on this evening when I read the card. Last year I shot an eight point buck off this same stand, on the last day, the last hour of season. It was my first deer ever.
~~

Baiting deer is legal in this section or unit of the state. You're allowed 2 gallons of bait per 40 acres ~ which isn't much when you hunt in an area like I'm in. I'm right out in the middle of the woods. I don't overlook a big corn field or have oak trees with acorns on the ground ~ no natural browsing taking place here. I'm relying on a lot of luck. Hoping and praying that a deer steps out in the trail I call my shooting lane, to check out my little pittance of corn. The woods here is so thick with underbrush and balsam trees ~ you only get "that chance - once". So your aim better be quick and it better be on target. The state is divided into 77 different units - each with it's own regulations on baiting and harvest quota's - so you really need to know where you are and what's allowed.

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I'm guesstamating - I know - that's not a word; but it's one my Dad would use :) It's around 8:00 a.m. I still don't have much heat coming off my wood stove. I'm afraid to fire it up too much because I noticed on the back of the stove pipe it's rusted right through. This is the last year for this hunting shack and stove. Next year I'm building a new one. One that two people can sit in ~ so I can bring one of my granddaughters to hunt with me. Also ~ a propane heater would be nice.

~~
This year my Dear Hubby, Slim and my son, didn't purchase a harvest tag for hunting. They are hunting the Mentorship Program with my Grandloves Amanda, age 16 and Brooke, age 11. The girls took the Hunter's Safety Education classes through the Dept. Natural Resources and are hunting under the guidance of Grandpa & Uncle for the first time. Only the girls are allowed to carry a firearm and harvest a deer. The guys were happy to sacrifice the hunt for themselves to teach them their first year out. I'm proud of both of them for doing this.
~~
That red squirrel sure is having a morning ~ trying to put the run on the weasel. It's chasing it all over the place. He better hope the chaser doesn't become the chasee because that weasel would eat that red squirrel in a heart beat. Last year on this same stand it was a red squirrel raising a ruckus over a bobcat ~ and the bobcat caught the squirrel. I always find it exciting to witness something like that while out in the woods. Nature doing what it does. The food chain being followed.

~~
I just heard a shot to the south of me - or is it southeast: It's so hard to tell when you're surrounded by such heavy under brush and sitting inside this shack surrounded by four walls. I hope it was to the south ~ where my mom is hunting. She's due for a nice deer. It's been three years since she got one. There's another shot. I hope it's her shooting; but now I'm thinking it was more to the east - by our neighbors - the Weiks. They are always lucky hunters and get nice bucks every year it seems on opening day.

It's a very cloudy, dreary, gray day. I wish the sun would shine. It would make it a lot easier to gauge the time. I really need a watch.

I still don't know what time it is; but I'm guessing it's getting close to noon. We're seven miles from town and I should be able to hear when the noon whistle blows at the paper mill. My stomach is telling me it's noonish - time for a traditional ham salad sandwich. During hunting season is the only time I ever make them. I buy a ham, grind it up in the food processor with mayo & pickle relish. I really shouldn't be eating this; with ham having such a high salt content and me with this bum ticker and retaining fluids like I do. Oh well - you gotta live on the edge once in awhile. I even have some frito's corn chips and a diet coke to wash it all down ~ PLUS some homemade jerky to snack on. As my former doctor from Poland would say, "Das terrible ~ a cardiac arrest on a platter. Don't eat dat." Or in my case this would be a cardiac arrest served on a board sitting on a stump that is serving as my coffee table. To top it all off ~ I didn't take my water pill this morning either ~ because I didn't want to spend the morning peeing outside my shack. Yesterday when I saw my doctor he suggested I start doubling my dosage on it ~ hmmmm ... maybe after hunting season, or in the evening... then I'll be up all night peeing. There's no happy medium.

~~
I just heard the noon whistle. I think I'm about an hour off on my guesstimation of time. Half a day in ... and still no deer.

~~
I'm reading a book ~ My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult ~ I know - it's been out since 2004 and a movie has already been made about it .... so it's about time I read it. I read a few lines - glance out the window - read - glance out the window - read - glance ....

This fire is bringing out some white flies out the wood pile. They look like miniature white moths. There are hundred of them flying around and landing on my black bag that I carry with my thermos and book, etc... I'm killing them as fast as I see them.

white flies - image from the internet

I also hear a mouse gnawing under my little wood pile in the corner. It's a zoo in here!

~~

Did you know ...
If you place a corn chip in your mouth and hold it between your tongue and the roof of your mouth and count, "one Mississippi, two Mississippi" etc... It takes up to 16 Mississippi's before it's soft enough to chew without making a crunching noise.
Just thought I'd share that valuable observation!

~~
It's getting dark ... shooting hours are over ... I hear my taxi ride Slim coming to pick me up with the four wheeler.

I check out the card on the camera to see what made it flash before hunting hours this morning ~

All it showed was a deer nose ~ I'm glad I wasn't seeing a big rack of horns ~~ maybe tomorrow it'll show itself in the daylight. I'm not going out early in the morning. I decided to stay in and take my heart meds and waterpill on time and go out later in the afternoon. It was really rough on me today sitting that long and I had a LOT of swelling in my legs this evening. Too much salt ... tomorrow I'm going to be more careful... or less foolish would be more accurate.

Even though I didn't get my buck ... I still enjoyed my time in the woods.

Mom didn't shoot at all today ... it was still further south of her.

Amanda got a little fork horn or four point buck. Congratulations Amanda!!

I was mistaken about Sam ... he did get a harvest tag; but didn't get anything yet.

Slim had the nicest supper made when I came in tonight. A nice beef roast, potatoes, carrots and gravy and he made chocolate chip cookies!! He's a keeper.

Tuesday

My Mom called at 7:30 this morning ~ sounding rather frantic. She said that she had been up since 3:00 a.m. chasing a flying squirrel in the house. What!! Yep... a flying squirrel got into the house. She needed help. Things were getting broke. She had a decorative plate sitting on a shelf in the living room ~ that got broke, a picture frame sitting on a little table in the kitchen with her and Dad's picture in it ~ that got broke, deer horns fell of the wall, those got broke. Mom was not a happy camper! This little squirrel was raising havoc. She left the door open for him to run out; but he just wouldn't go out it.

She even said that a few times she would get it cornered and it would jump right at her... scaring the bejeebees out of her, whatever bejeebees are. lol It was flying from the curtain rods to the sofa, back up across the fireplace mantel, into the kitchen, up the curtains, across the counter, jumping and flying across the deer head mounts and into her Christmas cactus, under the furniture, over the furniture, you get my drift??

I went over to assist; but when I got there ~ we couldn't find it. He escaped her watchful eye when she went to the bathroom. We looked all over the place ... no squirrel. I asked Mom is it possible he ran outside while she was in the bathroom and she laughs and says, "No, I know he didn't ... because I shut the outside door when I went out of the room to pee. He's here somewhere."

Well... we couldn't find him.

Flying squirrels are nocturnal so maybe he found a cozy little corner to sleep the day away and will be back tonight. What concerns us though is where did he get in?

Mom's house has just gone a through a major reconstruction of residing and any kind of little hole along the foundation, under the eaves, etc... was sprayed shut with Great Stuff Foam before being resided. All we can think of is that he possible got in down the old stone chimney. My brother Eric was going to take the ladder and crawl up there today to check it out.

In the meantime...
We wait until tonight to see if he shows his face again.
My brother Randy set up a few rat traps, and a live trap ~ hopefully we'll get him in the live trap and can release him.

Mom said she was so mad at that squirrel she was ready to get the shot gun! Oh Lord, Mom don't get the gun!!!

Never a dull moment around here.

Until next time...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

UPDATE:

I no sooner made this post and the phone rings. It was Mom telling me that they got the squirrel. It was sleeping between two pillows on a chair by the fireplace. Things are back to normal.

Monday

I meant to post these earlier; but couldn't find them in my huge picture file. I try to keep things organized when I download them on to the computer by date. These are November photos and somehow they ended up in April. Operator error.

What a handsome guy!!

He alone makes me proud to be an American ~ such a regal bird ...

and to think that George Washington wanted the turkey for our national bird.

Oh George... I'm so glad you were voted down.

Turkeys are for Thanksgiving

Also... (for Lucy)

Thought I'd show you an updated photo on little Rambo ~

He's no longer that little shy pup who we took in with the bum leg ...

He runs all over the place like he owns it ... his leg doesn't bother him at all ... he's even getting his "big boy" bark.

Saturday

We went out day before yesterday to get my hunting stand ready for the gun deer season ~ that opens next weekend. I was undecided whether or not I was going to hunt this year; but since I'm feeling a bit better ~ and hopefully will keep improving over the next week ... I'm going to give it a try again ... but I promise I'm not going to be overdoing.

Sam went out in the woods with me to check over my little shack that I'll be hunting out of.

It sits on the edge of a swampy area next to two trails that are cut through the woods. The deer like to frequent this area because there is a lot of browsing available. A few years back a tornado hit this section of woods and now there are a lot of young poplar trees coming up ... and poplars and deer make a good combo.

Here's a closer view of my deer blind aka. "mom's shack":

It's old and tattered ~ and has sitting out in the woods for years (my Mom used to hunt out of it) ... but it serves it's purpose well. It sure beats having to sit outside in the elements. It has a little homemade wood stove in it along with a chair, a board sitting on a log stump inside serves as a coffee table. What more does a hunter need.

Baiting deer is legal in our section of the state. So we dumped out some corn down the end of my shooting lane and put a trail camera on it to see if anything is around.

Here's what I had there yesterday:

If you look hard ~ way down on the right hand side of the picture on the bottom ... is a red squirrel.

Here's what I had today: Sam, Ashley and SNOW!!

Lot's of snow ... and it's just the beginning of this storm that is coming. We're suppose to get another 6 to 8 inches today.

Tuesday

I know some of you heard this story before; but Paula's post at paulinescountrytales ~ asking what the funniest thing we ever saw at the doctors office was ~ just conjured up the memory again for me and I decided to share it one more time. Thanks Paula!!

~~~
I was sitting in the waiting room at the clinic. I overheard one of the receptionist gals talking to the other gal about her dog being sick and she was going to call the vet's office. Now comes the part that cracks me up~

Picture this as you read this. Imagine you didn't overhear that she was talking about a dog. After all... this is a doctor's office. Imagine you just walked into the office and overheard her on the phone.

Here's the jest of the conversation of the receptionist on the phone with the vet's office:

"When she got up she was walking with a stagger, like she was drunk. Then she went pee and started walking in circles and started to lick herself. Do you think it's a urinary tract infection?"

OMG! ~ I am freaking laughing again like a hyena inside.

In the mean time this old guy comes in the door and walks up to the counter. He has to wait because she's still on the phone. I know he had to have heard the first part of the conversation as he was walking in.

Then the receptionist says, "Well I suppose I'd lick myself too if I had that. I guess I'll see you after work."

If you could have seen the look on that old guys face!! Priceless!!

Geeze Louise... this is a doctors office! For HUMANS ~ I can only imagine what he was thinking!! LOL

Monday

Angina ... A heart condition marked by paroxysms of chest pain due to reduced oxygen to the heart

Last night after the birthday party and a riveting game watching of the Packers vs Cowboys ... the kids all left for the night ... I was getting ready for bed ... and it hit me. Taking Nitro tabs didn't do the trick this time around.

I ended up spending 4 hours in the Emergency Room ... then transferred down to the Intensive Care Unit until 7:00 tonight to calm things down.

Sunday

We had a fun evening at our house tonight. The kids all came over to celebrate our son in law Don's birthday. Of course ~ there had to be a cake. Sara and I fixed him up a triple layer, double chocolate poopcake.

With all the trimmings ~ poo, flies, corn, peanuts and toilet paper:

Don't you just love a fun birthday cake ~ no matter how old you are!

Our youngest Grandlove, Bailey who's five was a little hesitant about eating it; but once we explained it was just frosting, plastic flies, peanuts and candy corns she said she'd try a little ... BUT ~ she was not eating those flies!!

Saturday

I made it back from my couple days in Oz spending time with my Wizard.

~ this is a photo of "the cabin" I took last year ~

Truthfully ... it's was more like a couple days in the swamps following a stinky old trapper man around. I'm not saying my husband stinks; but the lures he carries in the back of his truck for trapping have a pretty strong odor sometimes. That doesn't bother me though. I've been around trappers and trapping my whole life. Our family and the generations before (on both my side of the family and Dear Hubby's side of the family) have always subsidized our incomes through the fur industry.

What does bother me though, is ending the day out in the woods on the trap line ~ only to go back to a stinkier hunting shack ~ that's so filthy dirty. Whenever I go up there, about once a year, I get that compulsive feeling of needing to clean it. This year was different. I decided to leave it instead of cleaning and come home and clean my own house. But... by time I drove back to my house and walked through the doors of home sweet home ... I decided my own house is spotless and I didn't have to clean it. Really ... it's not spotless, by no means ... but in comparison to what I just spent two days at ~ it's lookin' pretty darn good.

The cabin is owned by Dear Hubby and six other guys. It's their hunting shack ... their place to 'get away' from it all. Slim doesn't hunt with those guys though, he just has part ownership in the cabin and goes up there for a couple weeks the end of October / first part of November for trapping season.

That big red table that they use as the poker table is an old electrical utility spool covered with vinyl material stapled on to it. It's dirty and greasy, grimey and stinky. Last year I used four SOS pads to scour it off so you could see that it's even red! That big cook stove / griddle in the back ground ... I won't even gross you out with what that looked like before I cleaned it. Last year I spent four hours scouring it with degreaser. My hand were raw by time I got it looking good enough to cook off of.

The refrigerator had things that were unrecognizable. The freezer out on the porch, which was unplugged, had a loaf of french bread in it that looked like a big giant fuzzy caterpillar ready to crawl. I won't even tell you what I think about their bathroom. It should be surrounded with yellow police caution tape!

Don't even get me started on the upholstered material in the place ... like the three sofas. ewwwww yuck is putting it very mildly ... and the carpeting ... looks like a dog puked on it in a few places ... I'm not kidding ... it's gross. One spot even looks like it has porcupine quills in it .... I didn't investigate. The best way to clean this place would be a match and a gallon of gasoline.

My big trapper man Slim did put out some mouse traps and caught 20 of them this week. He said I'm just a little over sensitive about the mice ... they won't hurt you. Okay honey... I know they won't hurt me; but it really grosses me out to see you guys just shake their shit off the bed then crawl in it ... like they were never there ... and what's that funny little stain on the pillow case beside the poo ... mouse pee??? ewwwww

Slim goes up to that cabin once a year ... and he even admits it's hard sometimes to go there. I would go with him in the past for a couple of weeks at a time; but every time I spent it scouring and cleaning. Not anymore. The rest of the crew ~ are going to be quite surprised in a few weeks when they all show up for hunting season and find out that I didn't stay and clean up the place for them ... like I have in the past. Those guys are up there all the time in the summer ~ and apparently it doesn't bother them.

At least Slim is clean ... and our bed is clean up there. We never leave bedding behind and always take up fresh sheets. Seriously, you should see some of the other beds ... yuck... it's really gross!! How can people be such pigs. All I know ... it's their mess and I'm not the housekeeper anymore.

Slim and I would love to find another place. This timeshare isn't working out.

Okay ... enough on that subject ... I know ... sometimes I get long winded and riled up. Going to that cabin just doesn't relax me. Could you imagine if I would have stayed a whole week!! or 3 weeks like Slim is?? I'd be dead. Seriously, I can't wait until we are no longer part of that place. Neither can Slim.

On the other hand ...

I did enjoy going out trapping with Slim. I just love walking through the woods with him.

Here's a shot of him in his camo, blending in, as he's walking through the trees.

Now you can see him ... with his big rubber boots and gauntlet gloves. He wears those gloves while setting beaver traps to keep his scent off of them and to keep his hands warm and dry.

This is one of the ponds he set up. Do you see the beaver house in the background?

Also, notice the ice on the pond already. Yeppers... that's ice you're looking at ... from the shoreline all the way back to where you see a change in the water line. It was only 24 degrees out this morning.

The landowner wants Slim to get the beaver out of there because they keep flooding his road. This is just a couple nights damage of a dam that they are working on. That's right in the middle of the the road that the property owner has to drive on that goes through his land.

This next picture ~ I took last year while up there by this same pond. It's a our friend, Porky, holding the chewed off stump of one of the MANY trees that the beaver chewed up on this property.

~mel

About Me

I'm just a gal living in the woods up in northern Wisconsin. The purpose of this blog is to share my stories of my daily life ~ one never knows what the topic may be ~ AND ~ to share my love of nature,gardening and cooking.
You never know what's on the cooling rack at my house!

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~*~

Proverbs 3:3-4

Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

~ * ~

Time For A Perspective!

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely
in a pretty and well-preserved body; but rather to skid in broadside,
thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming -
"WOW!! -- What a Ride!"

JPD Warrior Project

Suicide Awareness Prevention

In Wisconsin...

It's winter in Wisconsin
And the gentle breezes blow,
70 miles per hour at 52º below.
Oh, how I love Wisconsin
when the snow's up to your butt,
you take a breath of winter air -
your nose; it freezes shut.
Yes, the weather here is wonderful,
I guess I'll hang around.
I could never leave Wisconsin,
'Cause I'm frozen to the ground!

Advice~

My Story ~

One day, long, long ago, there lived a woman who did not whine, nag or bitch...(that would be me) But that was a long time ago, and it was just that one day. THE END.

ponderism~

I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes. ...